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U.S. helps China increase its trade surplus with the world in October.

The U.S. loves Made in China.

Despite the fact that the U.S. is returning, albeit at a tortoise pace, to some of its gritty manufacturing roots, China remains the go-to spot for imports.

Thanks to the U.S., China exports beat consensus last month, rising 11.6 percent year over year while consensus was 10 percent. No one compares to the U.S. when it comes to China shipments. Growth to the U.S. improved by 9 pecent y-o-y from 5.5 percent in September, while EU exports declined again, this time down 8.1 percent instead of the 10.7 percent drop in September. China's third largest market, Japan, slowed to 1.1 percent from 2.2 percent.

As a sign of China's slowly rebounding economy, growth of imports for processing and assembly improved to 7.3 percent y-o-y from 5.3 percent in September. Growth of ordinary imports (excluding commodities) fell 9.0 percent y-o-y in October from -2.4 percent in September, an indication that domestic demand may be weakening and contrasts with the strengthening growth of industrial production and retail sales released on Friday.

All told, China's trade surplus with the world widened to $32.0 billion in October from $27.7 billion in September. However, the long term trend is for that surplus to shrink.

By comparison, the U.S. has a $41.5 billion trade deficit with the world. The U.S. imports more goods from China than any other country. It imported $37.3 billion so far this year as of Sept. 30, according to the U.S. Census Bureau's Foreign Trade Division. China is now the No. 3 in terms of U.S. export markets, trailing NAFTA partners Canada (No. 1) and Mexico (No. 2). China imported $8.6 billion worth of U.S. goods as of end of September.